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We demonstrate that the total energy of finite, open-ended, single-walled carbon nanotubes is determined by a balance between the elastic energy due to the curvature of a tube and the chemical energy due to the dangling bonds at the open ends of a tube. The differences in total energy and radius between the most energetically stable zig-zag and armchair tubes, increases with increasing number of atoms in the tubes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Non-controlled usage of mineral fertilisers in agriculture land of Kazakhstan is a concerning issue, due to possible contamination of the soil by radionuclides. Pot experiment of growing of R. sativus with application of mineral fertilisers was carried out under natural conditions. Two commonly used mineral fertilisers, mono-potassium phosphate and ammonium nitrate, were chosen in the frame of current research to determine the impact of mineral fertiliser on transfer of natural radionuclides from soil to R. sativus edible part. For this goal, the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides U-234, U-238, Th-230, Th-232 and Ra-226, were determined in both R. sativus edible part and the investigated soil by using alpha-particle spectrometry. The highest activity concentrations were found for R. sativus edible part growing on soil that was fertilised by mono-potassium phosphate and were equal to 174 ± 17, 134 ± 15, 62 ± 4, 15 ± 2 and 2.8 ± 0.6 Bq/kg for U-234, U-238, Th-230, Th-232 and Ra-226, respectively. The results of soil-to- R. sativus edible part transfer factor for different radionuclides varied depending on the mineral fertiliser used. For evaluation of impact during consumption of R. sativus edible part by a population of Kazakhstan, annual effective ingestion dose and excess lifetime cancer risk were determined. The highest annual effective ingestion dose was found for R. sativus edible part cultivated in mono-potassium phosphate-fertilised soil and was equal to 4.4 μSv year -1 ., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This article is devoted to modeling, researching and optimizing the main properties of an environmentally clean polymer composition based on oligofurfuryloxysiloxanes (OFOS), which can be used to produce casting molds and cores in the production of castings from ferrous and nonferrous metals. Polymer compositions were examined for strength, survivability, gas permeability, moisture, crumbliness, fire resistance, knockout, and stickability. It has been established that the increase in the strength of the polymer composition over time obeys an exponential law. Mathematical equations were derived for all the exponential curves. The indications of compressive strength of the polymer composition with OFOS with all the acid catalysts used were, on average, as follows: after 1 h-1.3-1.54 MPa; after 3 h-2.5-2.9 MPa; after 24 h-4.9-6.1 MPa, which meets the requirements for casting molds before pouring with metal. The use of polymer compositions with OFOS ensures environmental safety of the technological process, due to the lack of emission of toxic substances, both in the "cold" stage of the process and during casting with molten metal, cooling, knocking out, and disposal of polymer compositions. This makes it possible to save energy resources, and thereby reduce the total cost of the entire technological process and castings.

Natural uranium isotopes were determined in food products of the Kyzylorda region in Kazakhstan. This region is characterised by the influence of the uranium industry, as up to 15% of the world uranium reserves are concentrated in this part of Kazakhstan and the adjacent territory of Kyrgyzstan. The food products most consumed by locals were selected for this survey. Special attention was paid to the analysis of edible and non-edible parts of food products and the assessment of a possible increase in risk due to consumption of non-edible parts. The highest content of uranium, of 80.2 µg/kg, was found in the edible part of the carrot. The highest activity concentrations of uranium isotopes are found in carrot, potato and onion, as edible parts of these vegetables are grown in the soil. All estimated cancer risks for uranium isotopes range from 10 -14 to 10 -12 , which are insignificant values.

Recent improvements in both X-ray detectors and readout speeds have led to a substantial increase in the volume of X-ray fluorescence data being produced at synchrotron facilities. This in turn results in increased challenges associated with processing and fitting such data, both temporally and computationally. Herein an abridging approach is described that both reduces and partially integrates X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data sets to obtain a fivefold total improvement in processing time with negligible decrease in quality of fitting. The approach is demonstrated using linear least-squares matrix inversion on XRF data with strongly overlapping fluorescent peaks. This approach is applicable to any type of linear algebra based fitting algorithm to fit spectra containing overlapping signals wherein the spectra also contain unimportant (non-characteristic) regions which add little (or no) weight to fitted values, e.g. energy regions in XRF spectra that contain little or no peak information.

Objective: To compare the results of Laparoscopic total extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repair (LTEPR) and the open prolene hernia system repair (OPHSR), in terms of complications, postoperative pain and quality of life. Background: Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most frequent surgeries made by general surgeons. Although, with the technological development and scientific advances even today it is not possible to define which is the gold standard procedure to hernia repair. Material and Methods: For this observational study, all 577 consecutive patients who underwent hernia repair were included in the study, 293 LTEPR, and 284 OPHSR. The average age for OPHSR was 62.49 years and for LTEPR 55.35 years. The average follow-up of 38.10 months, the mean operative time for OPHSR was 55.58 minutes and for LTEPR was 45.46 minutes, with a hospital stay of 1.1 and 1.08 respectively. Results: Each type of hernia was classified according to Gilbert/Rutcow-Robbins criteria, resulting in the OPHSR, 80.28 % were assigned to class 1 to 3 and only 19.72% in class 4 to 7. In the LTEPR, 52.22% of the patients are classified in degree 1 to 3 and 47.78% were class 4 to 7. In the LTEPR group there was more complications with 9 cases of bleeding controlled at the same time, one tear of the bladder, no other visceral complications; in the OPHSR group, there were fewer complications with significant differences (p= .014). The postoperative complications, principally hematoma, and seroma were the most common complication without statistic differences. The postoperative pain was in the OPHSR group, 77.46% of patients reported suffering from mild or pain-free pain, 21.47% reported moderate pain, and 1.05% reported severe pain, in the LTEPR group 74.4% of patients reported mild pain, 25.25% reported moderate pain and only one patient reported severe pain, without significant differences. In both groups, the patients reported a high index of satisfaction, and in the LTEPR group scare results were better than OPHSR (p .001)., Conclusion: The outcomes of LTEPR are similar to OPHSR. However, LTEPR has shorter operative time, more intraoperative complications and better scar satisfaction., (Celsius.)

Arsenate is a notorious toxicant that is known to disrupt multiple biochemical pathways. Many microorganisms have developed mechanisms to detoxify arsenate using the ArsC-type arsenate reductase, and some even use arsenate as a terminal electron acceptor for respiration involving arsenate respiratory reductase (Arr). ArsC-type reductases have been studied extensively, but the phylogenetically unrelated Arr system is less investigated and has not been characterized from Archaea Here, we heterologously expressed the genes encoding Arr from the crenarchaeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum in the euryarchaeon Pyrococcus furiosus , both of which grow optimally near 100°C. Recombinant P. furiosus was grown on molybdenum (Mo)- or tungsten (W)-containing medium, and two types of recombinant Arr enzymes were purified, one containing Mo (Arr-Mo) and one containing W (Arr-W). Purified Arr-Mo had a 140-fold higher specific activity in arsenate [As(V)] reduction than Arr-W, and Arr-Mo also reduced arsenite [As(III)]. The P. furiosus strain expressing Arr-Mo (the Arr strain) was able to use arsenate as a terminal electron acceptor during growth on peptides. In addition, the Arr strain had increased tolerance compared to that of the parent strain to arsenate and also, surprisingly, to arsenite. Compared to the parent, the Arr strain accumulated intracellularly almost an order of magnitude more arsenic when cells were grown in the presence of arsenite. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results suggest that the Arr strain of P. furiosus improves its tolerance to arsenite by increasing production of less-toxic arsenate and nontoxic methylated arsenicals compared to that by the parent. IMPORTANCE Arsenate respiratory reductases (Arr) are much less characterized than the detoxifying arsenate reductase system. The heterologous expression and characterization of an Arr from Pyrobaculum aerophilum in Pyrococcus furiosus provides new insights into the function of this enzyme. From in vivo studies, production of Arr not only enabled P. furiosus to use arsenate [As(V)] as a terminal electron acceptor, it also provided the organism with a higher resistance to arsenate and also, surprisingly, to arsenite [As(III)]. In contrast to the tungsten-containing oxidoreductase enzymes natively produced by P. furiosus , recombinant P. aerophilum Arr was much more active with molybdenum than with tungsten. It is also, to our knowledge, the only characterized Arr to be active with both molybdenum and tungsten in the active site., (Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology.)

Over 200 million people worldwide are exposed to the human carcinogen, arsenic, in contaminated drinking water. In laboratory animals, arsenic and the essential trace element, selenium, can undergo mutual detoxification through the formation of the seleno-bis(S-glutathionyl) arsinium ion [(GS) 2 AsSe] - , which undergoes biliary and fecal elimination. [(GS) 2 AsSe] - , formed in animal red blood cells (RBCs), sequesters arsenic and selenium, and slows the distribution of both compounds to peripheral tissues susceptible to toxic effects. In human RBCs, the influence of arsenic on selenium accumulation, and vice versa, is largely unknown. The study aims were to characterize arsenite (As III ) and selenite (Se IV ) uptake by human RBCs, to determine if Se IV and As III increase the respective accumulation of the other in human RBCs, and ultimately to determine if this occurs through the formation and sequestration of [(GS) 2 AsSe] - . 75 Se IV accumulation was temperature and Cl - -dependent, inhibited by 4,4'-diisothiocyanatodihydrostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (H 2 DIDS) (IC 50 1 ± 0.2 µM), and approached saturation at 30 µM, suggesting uptake is mediated by the erythrocyte anion-exchanger 1 (AE1 or Band 3, gene SLC4A1). HEK293 cells overexpressing AE1 showed concentration-dependent 75 Se IV uptake. 73 As III uptake by human RBCs was temperature-dependent, partly reduced by aquaglyceroporin 3 inhibitors, and not saturated. As III increased 75 Se IV accumulation (in the presence of albumin) and Se IV increased 73 As III accumulation in human RBCs. Near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy revealed the formation of [(GS) 2 AsSe] - in human RBCs exposed to both As III and Se IV . The sequestration of [(GS) 2 AsSe] - in human RBCs potentially slows arsenic distribution to susceptible tissues and could reduce arsenic-induced disease., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are exposed to unacceptable levels of carcinogenic inorganic arsenic. Animal models have shown that selenium and arsenic are mutually protective through the formation and elimination of the seleno-bis(S-glutathionyl) arsinium ion [(GS) 2 AsSe] - . Consistent with this, human selenium deficiency in arsenic-endemic regions is associated with arsenic-induced disease, leading to the initiation of human selenium supplementation trials. In contrast to the protective effect observed in vivo, in vitro studies have suggested that selenite increases arsenite cellular retention and toxicity. This difference might be explained by the rapid conversion of selenite to selenide in vivo. In the current study, selenite did not protect the human hepatoma (HepG2) cell line against the toxicity of arsenite at equimolar concentrations, however selenide increased the IC 50 by 2.3-fold. Cytotoxicity assays of arsenite + selenite and arsenite + selenide at different molar ratios revealed higher overall mutual antagonism of arsenite + selenide toxicity than arsenite + selenite. Despite this protective effect, in comparison to 75 Se-selenite, HepG2 cells in suspension were at least 3-fold more efficient at accumulating selenium from reduced 75 Se-selenide, and its accumulation was further increased by arsenite. X-ray fluorescence imaging of HepG2 cells also showed that arsenic accumulation, in the presence of selenide, was higher than in the presence of selenite. These results are consistent with a greater intracellular availability of selenide relative to selenite for protection against arsenite, and the formation and retention of a less toxic product, possibly [(GS) 2 AsSe] - ., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A new energy dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EDXAS) method is presented for simultaneous wide-field imaging and transmission X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to enable rapid imaging and speciation of elements. Based on spectral K-Edge Subtraction imaging (sKES), a bent Laue imaging system diffracting in the vertical plane was developed on a bend magnet beamline for selenium speciation. The high flux and small vertical focus, forming a wide horizontal line beam for projection imaging and computed tomography applications, is achieved by precise matching of lattice plane orientation and crystal surface (asymmetry angle). The condition generating a small vertical focus for imaging also provides good energy dispersion. Details for achieving sufficient energy and spatial resolution are demonstrated for both full field imaging and computed tomography in quantifying selenium chemical species. While this system has lower sensitivity as it uses transmission and may lack the flux and spatial resolution of a dedicated focused beamline system, it has significant potential in rapid screening of heterogeneous biomedical or environmental systems to correlate metal speciation with function.

Arsenic contamination is a major environmental issue, as it may lead to serious health hazard. The reduced trivalent form of inorganic arsenic, arsenite, is in general more toxic to plants compared with the fully oxidized pentavalent arsenate. The uptake of arsenite in plants has been shown to be mediated through a large subfamily of plant aquaglyceroporins, nodulin 26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs). However, the efflux mechanisms, as well as the mechanism of arsenite-induced root growth inhibition, remain poorly understood. Using molecular physiology, synchrotron imaging, and root transport assay approaches, we show that the cellular transport of trivalent arsenicals in Arabidopsis thaliana is strongly modulated by PIN FORMED 2 (PIN2) auxin efflux transporter. Root transport assay using radioactive arsenite, X-ray fluorescence imaging (XFI) coupled with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis revealed that pin2 plants accumulate higher concentrations of arsenite in roots compared with the wild-type. At the cellular level, arsenite specifically targets intracellular sorting of PIN2 and thereby alters the cellular auxin homeostasis. Consistently, loss of PIN2 function results in arsenite hypersensitivity in roots. XFI coupled with XAS further revealed that loss of PIN2 function results in specific accumulation of arsenical species, but not the other metals such as iron, zinc, or calcium in the root tip. Collectively, these results suggest that PIN2 likely functions as an arsenite efflux transporter for the distribution of arsenical species in planta ., (© 2019 The Author(s).)

Serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance were analyzed in 632 nasopharyngeal pneumococcal isolates collected at a single pediatric center in 2010-2017 before and following the introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV13) in Russia in 2014. The mean prevalence of PCV13 serotypes was 77.7% in 2010-2015 with a significant decline to 58.5% in 2017, which was accompanied by an elevation in serotype 15B/C prevalence (15.1% in 2017), 66% and 26% of 15B/C-pneumococci related to ST1025 and ST1262, respectively. The rate of oxacillin, erythromycin, and clindamycin resistance has increased by 15-20 percentage points from 2010 to 2016, approaching a 40-45% prevalence in 2016. The resistance rates significantly increased over time only in a group of PCV13 serotypes. The growing resistance among serotype 14 pneumococci was associated with expansion of a multidrug-resistant clone of ST143. These results emphasize the need for close monitoring of the constantly changing pneumococcal population., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Selenium is an essential element with a rich and varied chemistry in living organisms. It plays a variety of important roles ranging from being essential in enzymes that are critical for redox homeostasis to acting as a deterrent for herbivory in hyperaccumulating plants. Despite its importance there are many open questions, especially related to its chemistry in situ within living organisms., Scope of Review: This review discusses X-ray spectroscopy and imaging of selenium in biological samples, with an emphasis on the methods, and in particular the techniques of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray fluorescence imaging (XFI). We discuss the experimental methods and capabilities of XAS and XFI, and review their advantages and their limitations. A perspective on future possibilities and next-generation of experiments is also provided., Major Conclusions: XAS and XFI provide powerful probes of selenium chemistry, together with unique in situ capabilities. The opportunities and capabilities of the next generation of advanced X-ray spectroscopy experiments are particularly exciting., General Significance: XAS and XFI provide versatile tools that are generally applicable to any element with a convenient X-ray absorption edge, suitable for investigating complex systems essentially without pre-treatment., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Arsenicosis, a syndrome caused by ingestion of arsenic contaminated drinking water, currently affects millions of people in South-East Asia and elsewhere. Previous animal studies revealed that the toxicity of arsenite essentially can be abolished if selenium is co-administered as selenite. Although subsequent studies have provided some insight into the biomolecular basis of this striking antagonism, many details of the biochemical pathways that ultimately result in the detoxification and excretion of arsenic using selenium supplements have yet to be thoroughly studied. To this end and in conjunction with the recent Phase III clinical trial "Selenium in the Treatment of Arsenic Toxicity and Cancers", we have applied synchrotron X-ray techniques to elucidate the mechanisms of this arsenic-selenium antagonism at the tissue and organ levels using an animal model. X-ray fluorescence imaging (XFI) of cryo-dried whole-body sections of laboratory hamsters that had been injected with arsenite, selenite, or both chemical species, provided insight into the distribution of both metalloids 30 minutes after treatment. Co-treated animals showed strong co-localization of arsenic and selenium in the liver, gall bladder and small intestine. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) of freshly frozen organs of co-treated animals revealed the presence in liver tissues of the seleno bis-(S-glutathionyl) arsinium ion, which was rapidly excreted via bile into the intestinal tract. These results firmly support the previously postulated hepatobiliary excretion of the seleno bis-(S-glutathionyl) arsinium ion by providing the first data pertaining to organs of whole animals.

Results of 242 patients treatment, suffering the trunk and extremities covering tissues defects, which have had occur as a consequence of mechanical injury in a 2008 – 2016 yrs period, were analyzed. There were 697 оperative interventions performed, of them 492 (70.6%) – aiming to restore the tissues injured. The choice of method of the correcting intervention and the tissues defects covering have depended upon the wound dimension and depth, as well as peculiarities of hemodynamics in the area injured. Application of differentiated approach to choice of method for the wound surfaces closure, which were created as a consequence of mechanical injury, have had permitted to achieve satisfactory results in 98.75% of patients.

The frequency and mechanisms of resistance to macrolides in Streptococcus.pyogenes isolated within 3 periods: 2011-2012 (246 strains), 2013-2014 (273 strains) and from January to November of 2015 (120 strains) were studied. The strains of S.pyogenes (639) were isolated from 17107 nasopharyngeal, vaginal and middle ear discharge smears of children on their visits to physiciants or hospitalization at somatic hospital departments. The susceptibility was tested by the disk diffusion method and E-test strips. Identification of the mechanisms of resistance to macrolides and lincosamides included phenotypic and molecular genetic methods. PCR was used to determine ermB and mef genes in 23 erythromycin resistant isolates. As compared to 2011-2012, resistance of S.pyogenes to macrolides increased from 5 to 16% in 2015 and that to clindamycin from 2 to 10%. Among 23 erythromycin resistant strains 6 (26.1%) belonged to the M phenotype, 3 (13.0%) belonged to the iMLS(b) phenotype and 14 (60.9%) belonged to the cMLS(b) pheno-type. The results of detecting the macrolide resistance genes in S.pyogenes showed that only 26.1% of the isolates expressed the mefA gene. The predominant share (65.2%) of the erythromycin resistant isolates possesed the ermB gene as a determinant and in 4.3% of the isolates the ermB gene was associatied with the mefgene. No resistance genes were detected 1 isolate. Therefore, the main mech- anism that determined resistance of S.pyogenes to macrolides was methylation of ribosomes mediated by the ermB gene.

Hernia through the obturator canal is usually unsuspected and hence undiagnosed. Patients with obturator hernias present as acute cases of intestinal obstruction secondary to strangulation or incarceration, with high rate of morbidity and mortality due to delayed diagnosis and treatment. The know incidence of obturator hernia is low, representing 0.073% (11 of 15,098) of all hernias repaired at the Mayo Clinic in a retrospective study of 15 years. In this study, we conducted a retrospective analysis of laparoscopic extraperitoneal hernia repairs that were performed between the years 2003 and 2007. All procedures were undertaken by 2 experienced surgeons who performed more than 150 previous surgeries. In 293 patients who underwent repair of bilateral or recurrent inguinal hernia, exploration of the obturator foramen was conducted looking for obturator hernia, which was found in 20 cases (6.82% of patients). The true incidence of obturator hernia is greater than that reported in the literature, and the chances of detecting hernia are greater if an equal number of men and women are scanned could be higher if pelvic scanning was performed., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Certain arsenic and selenium compounds show a remarkable mutual cancelation of toxicities, where a lethal dose of one can be voided by an equimolar and otherwise lethal dose of the other. It is now well established that the molecular basis of this antagonism is the formation and biliary excretion of seleno bis-(S-glutathionyl) arsinium anion [(GS)2AsSe](-). Previous work has definitively demonstrated the presence of [(GS)2AsSe](-) in rabbit bile, but only in the presence of other arsenic and selenium species. Rabbits have a gall bladder, which concentrates bile and lowers its pH; it seems likely that this may be responsible for the breakdown of biliary [(GS)2AsSe](-). Since rats have no gall bladder, the bile proceeds directly through the bile duct from the hepatobiliary tree. In the present work we have shown that the primary product of biliary co-excretion of arsenic and selenium in rats is [(GS)2AsSe](-), with essentially 100% of the arsenic and selenium present as this species. The chemical plausibility of the X-ray absorption spectroscopy-derived structural conclusions of this novel arsenic and selenium co-excretion product is supported by density functional theory calculations. These results establish the biomolecular basis to further explore the use of selenium dietary supplements as a possible palliative for chronic low-level arsenic poisoning of human populations., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Due to scarcity of congenital diaphragmatic hearnias of Morgagni (CDHM), non-specific clinical presentation in the pediatric age group, we aimed to investigate the incidence, clinical manifestations, anatomical characteristics, and develop diagnostic algorithm and treatment of CDHM in children., Materials and Methods: The patients' records of children with CDHM treated in our hospital during past 20 years were retrospectively reviewed for the age at diagnosis, gender, clinical findings, anatomical features, operative details and outcome., Results: Since 1995 to 2014 we observed 6 (3 boys, 3 girls) patients with CDHM, that comprise 3.2% of all congenital diaphragmatic hernia cases (n = 185). Age at diagnosis varied from 3 mo. to 10y.o. Failure to thrive was main symptom in 4 patients, followed by recurrent respiratory infections (n = 3), dyspnea (n = 3), and gastrointestinal manifestations: constipation (n = 2), abdominal pain (n = 1). Work-up consisted of plain X-ray for all (n = 6), upper GI (n = 3), barium enema (n = 2), sonography (n = 6) and CT (n = 2). Abdominal approach used in 5 patients, and thoracotomy in one. Herniated contents were: liver lobes (n = 4), transverse colon (n = 3) and greater omentum (n = 1). 5 had right-sided lesion, 1- left-sided. Defect repaired using local tissues. Post-operative course was uneventful; all patients appeared well during follow-up., Conclusion: CDHM is very uncommon anomaly, very occasionally diagnosed at the early age. Failure to thrive and recurrent respiratory infections are most frequent clinical manifestations. In suspected CDHM we advocate the following work-up: plain chest and abdominal X-ray, contrast study (upper GI series or barium enema), ultrasonographic screen and CT scan. Surgical repair via abdominal approach, using local tissues and hernia sac removal is preferred.

The impact of the treatment method proposed, using antioxidant therapy in patients, suffering the burns, on the speed and efficacy of the donor's wounds healing in their extremities was studied. In a control group of patients a standard treatment of the donor's wounds in extremities was conducted, while in the main group of patients the treatment was added with lymphotropic injection of antioxidant preparation Mexidol. Due to application of the method proposed, the wounds healing in the main group of the injured persons have had occurred significantly faster, than in the patients of a control group, and the complications of the wounds healing were absent.

Results of treatment of 242 patients, to whom 697 оperative interventions were done, including 492 (70.6%) —with restoration of the injured soft tissues and other trunk and extremities structures —were analyzed. Choice of the correcting intervention method and closure of the covering tissues defect have depended on the wound dimensions and depth, peculiarities of hemodynamics in the area injured. Application of Lacert preparation for the traumatic injury consequences made spectrum of treatment options in patients, suffering covering tissues defect,broader. Differential approach to choice of procedure for the wound surface closure have permitted to achieve satisfactory results in 98.75% of patients.

The results of examination and treatment of 231 patients on defects covering tissues of the trunk and limbs were presented. The severity of the injury determined by classification A. V. Kaplan, O. M. Markova. In 10 patients wound treatment method used, developed in the clinic, using the combined preparation of hyaluronic acid with sodium succinate (Latsert), ensuring efficiency of treatment. Differentiated approach to the selection of closing wound surfaces method caused by mechanical damage, allowed to achieve satisfactory results in 97.84% of cases.

Background: We aimed to describe bacterial etiology of acute otitis media (AOM) and characterize resistance, serotypes and genotype profiles of AOM-causing pneumococci recovered in Moscow children., Methods: Children with AOM and an available middle ear fluid specimen were prospectively enrolled in this study. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis were considered as true otopathogens. All pneumococcal isolates were serotyped using the Quellung reaction; multidrug-resistant (MDR) pneumococci underwent multilocus sequence typing., Results: In 172 of 541 enrolled AOM patients (32%) at least 1 otopathogen was recovered, with S. pneumoniae having the highest rate of 63% (109/172). When adjusted for antibiotic treatment before sampling, in untreated patients the rate of culture-positive AOM was 35% (124/352), S. pneumoniae had a prevalence of 69% (86/124), S. pyogenes 19% (24/124), H. influenzae 13% (16/124) and M. catarrhalis 9% (11/124). Among 107 examined pneumococci, 45% were penicillin-nonsusceptible, 34 and 30% were resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin, respectively; 30% had an MDR phenotype, but no amoxicillin-resistant isolates were found. Ten of 32 (31%) MDR pneumococci related to clonal complex 320, the remaining isolates belonged to 7 different clonal complex. Six leading serotypes were 19F (27%), 3 (12%), 6B (11%), 14 (11%), 19A (9%) and 23F (8%); overall polysaccharide conjugate vaccine13 coverage was 93%., Conclusions: S. pneumoniae, the leading bacterial AOM pathogen in Moscow children, is characterized by a substantial rate of antibiotic nonsusceptibility and clonality. A polysaccharide conjugate vaccine with expanded coverage seems to fit the current AOM pneumococcal serotype distribution in Russia better.

Maternal transfer of elevated selenium (Se) to offspring is an important route of Se exposure for fish in the natural environment. However, there is a lack of information on the tissue specific spatial distribution and speciation of Se in the early developmental stages of fish, which provide important information about Se toxicokinetics. The effect of maternal transfer of Se was studied by feeding adult zebrafish a Se-elevated or a control diet followed by collection of larvae from both groups. Novel confocal synchrotron-based techniques were used to investigate Se within intact preserved larvae. Confocal X-ray fluorescence imaging was used to compare Se distributions within specific planes of an intact larva from each of the two groups. The elevated Se treatment showed substantially higher Se levels than the control; Se preferentially accumulated to highest levels in the eye lens, with lower levels in the retina, yolk and other tissues. Confocal X-ray absorption spectroscopy was used to determine that the speciation of Se within the eye lens of the intact larva was a selenomethionine-like species. Preferential accumulation of Se in the eye lens may suggest a direct cause-and-effect relationship between exposure to elevated Se and Se-induced ocular impairments reported previously. This study illustrates the effectiveness of confocal X-ray fluorescence methods for investigating trace element distribution and speciation in intact biological specimens.

Clioquinol (5-chloro-7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline) recently has shown promising results in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and in cancer therapy, both of which also are thought to be due to clioquinol's ability as a lipophilic copper chelator. Previously, clioquinol was used as an anti-fungal and anti-protozoal drug that was responsible for an epidemic of subacute myelo-optic neuropathy (SMON) in Japan during the 1960s, probably a myeloneuropathy arising from a clioquinol-induced copper deficiency. Previous X-ray absorption spectroscopy of solutions of copper chelates of clioquinol suggested unusual coordination chemistry. Here we use a combination of electron paramagnetic, UV-visible and X-ray absorption spectroscopies to provide clarification of the chelation chemistry between clioquinol and copper. We find that the solution structures for the copper complexes formed with stoichiometric and excess clioquinol are conventional 8-hydroxyquinolate chelates. Thus, the promise of clioquinol in new treatments for Alzheimer's disease and in cancer therapy is not likely to be due to any novel chelation chemistry, but rather due to other factors including the high lipophilicity of the free ligand and chelate complexes., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Pneumococcal infections remain a major medical problem associated with high morbidity and mortality. Moreover, the resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to conventional antibiotics is constantly growing. The implementation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in the last decade has dramatically reduced the incidence of the vaccine type-associated invasive pneumococcal diseases in many countries. However, information on the seroepidemiology of S. pneumoniae in Russia is limited., Methods: We report the results of serotyping and antibiotic susceptibility testing performed on 863 non-invasive pneumococcal isolates collected prospectively in 2009-2013 from children (median age 3.5 years) who sought medical care at five pediatric hospitals in Moscow. The isolates were recovered from the nasopharynx (71.2%), middle ear fluid (14.3%), and lower respiratory tract specimens (13.6%)., Results: In total, we identified 45 different serotypes. The six leading serotypes (prevalence >5%) included 19F (21.7%), 6B (12.8%), 23F (10.1%), 14 (9.0%), 6A (8.4%), and 3 (7.5%). Serotype 19A isolates had a prevalence of 2.3%. The proportion of PCV-13 serotypes was 78%; the coverage by PCV-7 was 58.2% and was similar to that of PCV-10 (59.8%). The rate of multidrug-resistant pneumococci (i.e., resistant to ≥3 antimicrobials) was 22%. The majority of the multidrug-resistant isolates were serotype 6B, 14, 19A, and 19F. Penicillin non-susceptibility was displayed by 28% of the isolates. The resistance rate to erythromycin was 26%. Among the examined erythromycin-resistant strains, 54% had the erm(B) gene and 13% had the mef gene as a single resistance determinant, whereas both determinants were found in 31% of these strains., Conclusions: Our data predict a good coverage of the circulating S. pneumoniae by the PCVs and could be useful for evaluating the serotype distribution in support of the introduction of PCV in Russia. In addition, the antimicrobial resistance rate of S. pneumoniae in Russia is substantial, and the emergence of pneumococcal strains with a dual macrolide resistance mechanism is alarming., (Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Nosocomial infections and their rational antibiotic treatment represent a major challenge for the healthcare nowadays. In this context, gramnegative bacteria including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii and Enterobacteriaceae spp. are etiologically important and characterized by a significant level of antibiotic resistance. To examine dynamics of the respiratory tract colonization by hospital flora, tracheal aspirates obtained at three time points from 69 children with severe craniocerebral trauma during their stay in ICU were analysed. Colonization was observed on the 4th day of the ICU stay with predomination of K. pneumoniae (45%) and A. baumanii (27-37%). P. aeruginosa was detected after the 8th day of the ICU stay with the isolation rate of 33%. Substantial proportions of P. aeruginosa (61%), A. baumanii (78%) and K. pneumoniae (25%) were resistant to carbapenems. In 65 carbapemen resistant isolates, the presence of carbapenemases was examined using PCRs. OXA-48 carbapenemase was detected in 11 out of 14 (78%) K. pneumoniae isolates. Among the A. baumanii isolates, 30/31 (97%) carried OXA-40 and 1/31 (3%) had OXA-23 carbapenemases. None of the examined A. baumanii and K. pneumoniae isolates produced metallo-betalactamases (MBL). In contrast, all 20 carbapenem resistant P. aeruginosa isolates produced a MBL, and in 12 out of 20 (60%) of theme VIM-2 was detected. Thus, gramnegative nosocomial microflora rapidly colonizes ICU patients and has a high level of resistance to antibiotics, including carbapenems.

Background and Objectives: Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is a challenging surgery that requires precise tissue cutting and meticulous hemostasis under warm ischemia conditions. In this study, we tested the feasibility of performing LPN using CO2 laser energy transmitted through a specialized flexible mirror optical fiber., Methods: General anesthesia and pneumoperitoneum were induced in 7 farm pigs. Various portions of a kidney, either a pole or a midportion of the kidney, were removed using a novel flexible fiber to transmit CO2 laser energy set at a power of 45W and energy per pulse of 100mJ. The collecting system was approximated with a suture or 2, but no hemostatic measures were taken besides applying a few pulses of the laser to bleeding points. The pigs were sacrificed 3 wk later., Results: Average renal mass removed was 18% of the total kidney weight. All pigs tolerated surgery well. Sharp renal cutting was accomplished in a single continuous incision, with minimal tissue charring and minimal blood loss (<10cc) in all animals. Necropsy revealed no peritoneal or retroperitoneal abnormalities. Histologic examination of the cut surface showed a thin sector of up to 100 m of coagulation necrosis., Conclusions: We report on the first LPN done using a CO2 laser transmitted through a flexible fiber in an animal model. This novel application of the CO2 laser produced excellent parenchymal incision and hemostasis along with minimal damage to adjacent renal tissue, thus, potentially shortening ischemia time and kidney function loss. Further studies comparing this laser to standard technique are necessary to verify its usefulness for partial nephrectomy.

The results of examination and treatment of 179 patients, suffering the wound defects, localized on corpus and extremities, were presented. The patients were divided on groups, depending on the etiology of the defect, they were examined in accordance to algorithm proposed. Ultrasound duplex scanning was applied for diagnosis of regional hemodynamics disorders with the objective to choose a correcting intervention and investigation of a donor site vessels. The surgical tactics choice have depended on anatomic-functional and hemodynamical peculiarities of the affected locus present. In all the patient a microbiological monitoring of wounds was conducted and a rational antibioticotherapy prescribed.

In the experiments, which were carried out using flow cytometry on isolated uterus mitochondria of nonpregnant rats, conditions for studying Ca2+-induced increase in nonspecific permeability of mitochondial membrane were tested. Fluorescent probe nonyl acridin orange was used to determine the purity of isolated mitochondria. Mitochondrial swelling induced by addition of Ca2+ or alamethicin was detected as a decrease in light side scattering (SS). It was shown that mitochondrial swelling in the presence of 100 microM Ca plus 1 microM A23187 was 86 +/- 4% compared with maximal response after alamethicin treatment. The calcium-induced swelling of mitochondria was inhibited by the addition of 5 microM cyclosporin plus 40 microM ADP. Mitochondrial swelling was inhibited by spermine at a dose of 0.1 micromol/mg or induced at a dose of 10 micromol/mg. It was supposed that the experimental approach proposed in this paper can be useful for mitochondrial pore modulating effectors screening.

The E. coli genes rplKAJL specifying ribosomal proteins L11, L1, L10, L7/L12 are co-transcribed with the genes rpoBC encoding the beta- and beta'-subunits of RNA polymerase, but are separated by the site of attenuation. The efficiency of attenuation within rplKAJL-rpoBC operon was determined as a ratio of rplKAJL transcription frequency to the same of rpoBC genes. The efficiency of attenuation was found to be a growth-rate dependent parameter of E. coli cells. At growth rate 1.2 doublings per hour the attenuation is rare and simultaneously increases with the increase in the growth rate (at mu = 1.2 doublings per hour the efficiency of attenuation is 4). Rifampicin (10-30 micrograms/ml) inhibits the transcription of both rplKAJL and rpoBC genes in fast growing cells but paradoxically stimulates their transcription in slowly growing cells. The stimulatory effect of rifampicin on rplKAJL genes transcription is supposed to be based on its ability to repress the ppGpp synthesis. The possible role of ppGpp in the regulation of transcription attenuation in rplKAJL-rpoBC operon is discussed.

The natural transcription polarity of proximal and distal elements of the rplJL-rpoBC operon is increased when translation is inhibited in Escherichia coli cells. It is shown that transcription uncoupling to translation terminates within EcoRI-2,6 fragment of the operon which contains the transcription attenuator. We suggest that transcription attenuation in the rplJL-rpoBC operon is regulated by the coupling of transcription to translation of the intergenic fragment which overlaps the attenuator sequence.